It seems Dark Descent have once again done well by unleashing Lantern’s newest effort upon the metal landscape, sprouting another frigid root into the festering soil of death metal to petrify and rot whoever enters its reach.
My introduction to Lantern was through their Subterranean Effulgence EP, and while it was good for sure without having gone back and re-listened to it recently I would’ve have said it wasn’t too memorable. Promising? Sure. However with their new record Below they’ve definitely got my attention. Lantern has heightened their unique, chasmal death ceremony, resurrecting old heretics and using their essence to form something decidedly old school, and cleverly (if not subtly) inventive as well.
Below really does feel like it’s right out of the mid-1980’s or maybe very early ’90’s. I feel like putting on a VHS copy of Phantasm while listening to this: what I’d describe as a mutation of Demilich (both emerging from Kuopio) and Possessed with traces of Death, with a heavily cavernous production; this quality lends a lot to the old school and tomb-like atmosphere.
Now there are obviously a lot of bands taking this approach but Lantern have made Below sound pretty legitimate and closer to those first two legends without being bizarre or falling prey to worship syndrome — sounding open and huge with echo and a ‘classic’ cassette like grainyness. It’s the invert of Ritual Necromancy and their ilk’s chambered presence: where the former’s a cave lit ablaze, choked with smoke and screams, Lantern’s aural feels cold and barren, isolated and encased in frost and mist.
What I’m getting at with the unnecessary comparisons is that the same kind of haunting vibe that the mighty Demilich (minus the strange, techincal riffs) and others from the region use in the context of Lanterns style makes it feel more frostbitten than other death revivalists currently making the rounds. So even though Lantern are part of the old school wave they steer clear of a path that will have them lost in the current big wave of blackened death or Nordic revival by adding some progression and very minute crossover — largely by interpreting and drawing out their influences at the proper points.
It’s not immediately discernible on the opener “Rites of Descent”, a noisy and dark death trek and the first of Below’s chilling seven in total . The first few moments introduce you to their style bluntly, sounds a little like the long forgotten Children of Maani before breaking into death thrash territory. The material is solid but Lantern has more up it’s tattered, wind-blown sleeves in later tracks. Right at the end though there’s a blackened fury that has blurred leads reminiscing in almost Darkspace language, but it’s cut short to dive into the track that follows.
Throughout there’s that dirty and thin guitar tone throwing out whirlwind tremolo riffs, moaning leads, and solos that will wrench you back to the early 1990’s. The vocals are another aspect of Below that resurrects the old metal guard, reminding me of a much deeper Possessed death/thrash rasp-shout. As you can imagine this style thrives in the chasm of darkness the production foments, bolstering the lyrical content of arcane funeral processions, astral transcendence through supernatural wisdom, psychosis and delirium, etc. All of the content is quite poetic and well written even if standard.
The drums are a little damp in the mix with all the space though, clacking and pattering but not rising above the frosty ground very often and the bass has this problem sometimes as well. This could be intentional of course. But despite being hard to hear sometimes this does fade, and the technique and skill are rock solid; conjuring blizzard-like percussion with ease. It’s one guy on the instrumental end of Lantern and he performs resolutely throughout.
Back to the songs. After spoken lyrics amongst a heavy build“Revenant” almost brings back a Death – Symbolic era opening passage whipping up a nostalgia cloud before dispersing it with ripping tremolo riffs and echoing shouts. You can practically hear the archaic wind howling between massive abandoned structures. That opening riff appears later on and really alters the mood of the song — lifting it up from the turmoil that the track embroils itself in. I like it quite bit especially the second time where it leads to some awesome, thick death metal rhythms. Intoxicating and a fuckin great way of breaking up the song.In fact I get a very Death-esque vibe in other places such as in the final track in the brief quiet moments at the end.
“Entrenching Presences” brings a more dissonance driven attack on the outset, a sick tremolo riff ringing out before a roar and dive bomb; he scraping rhythms eventually become more chaotic once the solo hits.The return to structure is brief in the middle where the drifting guitars stretch a little, and they get down to a wicked slow section that creeps more and more towards the end. After all that terrific thrashing it’s a welcomed flattener that entrances easily. This break doesn’t last long – the beating continues in voracious manner so enjoy it.
“Manifesting Shambolic Aura” continues that warpath, adding droning leads occasionally with thrashing drums ever tormenting — erupting into a wicked set of solos; the riff leading to and preceding it a tangled jumpy one. Those high leads fade the song out quickly as “Ave Satan!!!” is barked to the end. Then “Demons in My Room” takes a far slower approach, really churning out whining leads and melodic, semi-doomy passages only once or twice picking up the pace. The title track is an instrumental intermission, a slow-climbing riff bridge constructed before the nearly ten minute “From the Ruins”.
With a quick clacking this track delves deep into the black metal aspect of their sound, writhing in tremolo and blasting snares ever descending. Silence and vocals announce the change back to a slumberous gait that allows the instruments to hang like smoke briefly; interrupted and sucked back into the bubbling pit of blackened death again. Only sparsely do they allow this to subside and venture into a cosmic Death-like lead, or for instance in the final three minutes where an eerie synth and effects-laden section appears (something I mentioned above). Lantern show some further flexibility here in their final push.
Lantern definitely have something interesting with Below. Not ‘holy shit’ mind blowing but definitely stands out even in the Dark Descent roster. It’s one of those records that you’re listening to and feel familiar with but can’t quite place it, while still surprising you without wearing you. On that note it’s a good length as well, I didn’t feel like it was too short but it does run it’s course in what feels far shorter than 37 minutes. The songs are substantial and creative without reaching into the modern realm, and their sound has grown well.
I gotta recommend this for both fans of the classic smothering death metal era long gone and the newer waves trying to rekindle that blaze. You can grab copies of this beast once it’s release on June 25th over at Dark Descent Records (or preorder it if you wish), and I would put money on Below being up on the label’s bandcamp to stream and purchase sometime after it’s out.
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